Chesnut, Mary

orig. Mary Boykin Miller

(born March 31, 1823, Pleasant Hill, S.C., U.S.—died Nov. 22, 1886, Camden, S.C.) U.S. writer. The daughter of a prominent South Carolina politician, she attended private schools in her youth. In 1840 she married James Chesnut, Jr., who would play an important role in the secession movement and the Confederacy. After her husband became an officer in the Confederate army, she accompanied him on his military missions and recorded her views and observations in her journal. Her Diary from Dixie, a perceptive view of Southern life during the American Civil War, was published in 1905.

Chesnut, Mary (Boykin Miller) (1823–86) diarist; born near Camden, S.C. Daughter of a former South Carolina governor, she married James Chesnut, a wealthy planter, defender of slavery, and staunch secessionist; joining the U.S. Senate (Dem., S.C.) in 1859, he resigned in 1860 to lead in forming the Confederacy. He then served with the Confederate army, leaving his wife to write her journal of life on the southern homefront (especially in Richmond, Va., and South Carolina) from 1861–65. First published in 1905 as A Diary from Dixie, it is recognized as a lively and compelling contribution to the literature of the Civil War.